5 ms·

How so? Concrete takes any kind of wall plug extremely well, and brick is not so bad either as long as you don't hit the mortar joints. Vertically perforated br

How so? Concrete takes any kind of wall plug extremely well, and brick is not so bad either as long as you don't hit the mortar joints. Vertically perforated brick and old cinder blocks can be annoying, though, I'll give you that.

ThePadawan 5y ago
(Not parent, but European) I think the issue is generally more how to get into the concrete in the first place. I personally live in a skyscraper and have tried to drill into my walls and found out it's close to impossible without industrial equipment. Every few months on the beginning of the month (when people move in), I can hear the furtive struggle of a drill trying to get into the load-bearing walls. How it starts off confident and then the torque decreases and decreases.
- LoneWolf 5y ago
  Depending on the walls, generally at least in my country walls are made of clay bricks, so any hammer drill will work, but if you want to drill too close to the ceiling, or the ceiling you will need something better. I ended up buying a rotary hammer because of this, holes on the floor (doorstoppers), ceiling, or walls right close to the ceiling was impossible with the cheap hammer drill, along with a good SDS+ drill bit feels like butter now.
  - ThePadawan 5y ago
    Yes, I had good experiences working with brick walls so far - but a lot of very modern construction (here in Switzerland) uses a lot of concrete, sometimes even exposed concrete in living spaces [0]. I really don't know if any of the designers/architects involved have ever tried living in those apartments. I think a lot of them would choose different materials if they had to do their own DYI. [0] https://www.ryserboeden.ch/binokular https://www.ryserboeden.ch/binokular
    - bipson 5y ago
      Oh, they do. Concrete has great thermodynamic properties for living comfort. It cools at day, warms at night, transfers from cold parts of the house to hot ones, etc. It is there on purpose (and not too difficult to drill into with a "Bohrhammer", rotary drill(?), i.e. the ones with SDS(+)). Actually, the brick-walls we have (hollow bricks with flimsy thin walls) were harder for me to figure out. They need really careful drilling with the right tools, otherwise the brick shatters and nothing will take grip.
- namdnay 5y ago
  Honestly, with a good rotary hammer (and good drill bits!) you go through reinforced concrete like butter. I swear by my Hilti, but an Einhell or Lidl will do a fine job too
  - ThePadawan 5y ago
    Yes, that's what I mean when I say "industrial equipment". No one who rents a normal apartment for 1 or 2 people will own a rotary hammer they only need for 1 day every 5 years - they'll rent a powerful one at a hardware store. But lots of people have an affordable power drill which is still good enough to drill into brick walls (since cheap power drills suck so much, you never want to use them again, but mid-range power drills are pretty all-around powerful).
    - namdnay 5y ago
      Completely agree for renting - especially since you're going to have to fill those holes up again and paint the wall etc after you leave :(
      - analog31 5y ago
        If I were renting, I would use a magnet to find the hidden wall anchors before installing new ones.
    - Aaargh20318 5y ago
      > No one who rents a normal apartment for 1 or 2 people will own a rotary hammer they only need for 1 day every 5 years - they'll rent a powerful one at a hardware store. I got mine because renting it for 1 day was actually more expensive than just buying a cheap one new. Still works fine after 10 years.
- sam_lowry_ 5y ago
  Use a pneumatic hammer drill, you can find out which one is pneumatic by checking the head. It should be SDS. Rotary heads can not be used on hammer drills.

ThePadawan 5y ago

(Not parent, but European) I think the issue is generally more how to get into the concrete in the first place. I personally live in a skyscraper and have tried to drill into my walls and found out it's close to impossible without industrial equipment. Every few months on the beginning of the month (when people move in), I can hear the furtive struggle of a drill trying to get into the load-bearing walls. How it starts off confident and then the torque decreases and decreases.

LoneWolf 5y ago
Depending on the walls, generally at least in my country walls are made of clay bricks, so any hammer drill will work, but if you want to drill too close to the ceiling, or the ceiling you will need something better. I ended up buying a rotary hammer because of this, holes on the floor (doorstoppers), ceiling, or walls right close to the ceiling was impossible with the cheap hammer drill, along with a good SDS+ drill bit feels like butter now.
- ThePadawan 5y ago
  Yes, I had good experiences working with brick walls so far - but a lot of very modern construction (here in Switzerland) uses a lot of concrete, sometimes even exposed concrete in living spaces [0]. I really don't know if any of the designers/architects involved have ever tried living in those apartments. I think a lot of them would choose different materials if they had to do their own DYI. [0] https://www.ryserboeden.ch/binokular https://www.ryserboeden.ch/binokular
  - bipson 5y ago
    Oh, they do. Concrete has great thermodynamic properties for living comfort. It cools at day, warms at night, transfers from cold parts of the house to hot ones, etc. It is there on purpose (and not too difficult to drill into with a "Bohrhammer", rotary drill(?), i.e. the ones with SDS(+)). Actually, the brick-walls we have (hollow bricks with flimsy thin walls) were harder for me to figure out. They need really careful drilling with the right tools, otherwise the brick shatters and nothing will take grip.
namdnay 5y ago
Honestly, with a good rotary hammer (and good drill bits!) you go through reinforced concrete like butter. I swear by my Hilti, but an Einhell or Lidl will do a fine job too
- ThePadawan 5y ago
  Yes, that's what I mean when I say "industrial equipment". No one who rents a normal apartment for 1 or 2 people will own a rotary hammer they only need for 1 day every 5 years - they'll rent a powerful one at a hardware store. But lots of people have an affordable power drill which is still good enough to drill into brick walls (since cheap power drills suck so much, you never want to use them again, but mid-range power drills are pretty all-around powerful).
  - namdnay 5y ago
    Completely agree for renting - especially since you're going to have to fill those holes up again and paint the wall etc after you leave :(
    - analog31 5y ago
      If I were renting, I would use a magnet to find the hidden wall anchors before installing new ones.
  - Aaargh20318 5y ago
    > No one who rents a normal apartment for 1 or 2 people will own a rotary hammer they only need for 1 day every 5 years - they'll rent a powerful one at a hardware store. I got mine because renting it for 1 day was actually more expensive than just buying a cheap one new. Still works fine after 10 years.
sam_lowry_ 5y ago
Use a pneumatic hammer drill, you can find out which one is pneumatic by checking the head. It should be SDS. Rotary heads can not be used on hammer drills.